Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.

Thy princes {are} rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood. {power: Heb. arm}

Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, {and} the troop of robbers spoileth without. {wickedness: Heb. evils} {spoileth: Heb. strippeth}

Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD {shall be} a light unto me.

And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Thus saith the Lord GOD; Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice, take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord GOD. {exactions: Heb. expulsions}

Her princes within her {are} roaring lions; her judges {are} evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.

Go to now, {ye} rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon {you}.

But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

{There is} a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.

And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.

Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones;

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee {as} my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, {but} their heart goeth after their covetousness. {as the...: Heb. according to the coming of the people} {they sit...: or, my people sit before thee} {they shew...: Heb. they make loves, or, jests}

Moreover the prince shall not take of the people's inheritance by oppression, to thrust them out of their possession; {but} he shall give his sons inheritance out of his own possession: that my people be not scattered every man from his possession.

Then say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD, The city sheddeth blood in the midst of it, that her time may come, and maketh idols against herself to defile herself.

Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.

Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, {and} a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, {and} their backslidings are increased. {evenings: or, deserts} {are increased: Heb. are strong}

Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain.

Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to their power to shed blood. {power: Heb. arm}

In the land shall be his possession in Israel: and my princes shall no more oppress my people; and {the rest of} the land shall they give to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum {is} therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.

And it was {so}, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them, {and cast them} into the midst of the pit, he, and the men that {were} with him.

Therefore will I give their wives unto others, {and} their fields to them that shall inherit {them}: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that {are} in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.

They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.

And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.

For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to {execute} wrath upon him that doeth evil.

Benjamin shall ravin {as} a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee.

Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land?

And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them.

They gaped upon me {with} their mouths, {as} a ravening and a roaring lion. {gaped...: Heb. opened their mouths against me}

He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both {are} abomination to the LORD.

When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the king's house unto the house of the LORD, and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the LORD'S {house}. {in the...: or, at the door}

The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;

Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt. {welfare: Heb. peace}

Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.

Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the LORD'S house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

And hath not oppressed any, {but} hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;

{There is} a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

And as troops of robbers wait for a man, {so} the company of priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness. {by...: Heb. with one shoulder, or, to Shechem} {lewdness: or, enormity}

All their wickedness {is} in Gilgal: for there I hated them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more: all their princes {are} revolters.

The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, {Is} not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. {and say: Heb. saying}

That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge {asketh} for a reward; and the great {man}, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up. {his...: Heb. the mischief of his soul}

And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so.

He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him.

Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?